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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25122607">Something Borrowed, Something Blue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_stickie_note/pseuds/side_stickie_note'>side_stickie_note (lost_stickie_note)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>TWICE (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Brief mentions of the other twice members, F/F, For Chaeyoung obviously, Jihyo getting married, Mina has been pining, Unhappy Ending, Unrequited Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:14:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,087</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25122607</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_stickie_note/pseuds/side_stickie_note</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mina hasn't seen Chaeyoung in years, but of course everyone will be at Jihyo's wedding.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Myoui Mina/Son Chaeyoung</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Spring Blossom Fest - A ficfest for female idols</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Something Borrowed, Something Blue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm not sure why, but I guess my Twice fic aesthetic is now angst + weddings. Hoping this doesn't become a pattern, as I'd love to write a happier Twice fic someday. Also, I'm not sure if I absolutely <i>loved</i> this piece as much as I loved the idea of it. But I wanted to push out the piece anyways. [sad jams] Hopefully someone likes it though!</p><p>Thank you to my wonderful beta reader for taking a peek at this on such short notice. ♡♡</p><p>Words from bingo board used: pining, wedding, drunken confessions, unrequited</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There’s no reason why Mina should feel the way she does when she gets the invitation, a happy occasion for Jihyo, a pure and wonderful union of two people that love one another, the fancy cursive script on the cream-colored card an indicator of great things to come. But all Mina can think of is the fact that she’s going back to Korea, going to see everyone for the first time in a long time, years at this point.</p><p>Going to see Chaeyoung.</p><p>She’s not sure whether the thought makes her want to laugh or cry. Or both, really. And she exercises some self-care for the rest of the day after receiving the invite, choosing to put aside today’s to-do list for another time. Instead soaking in a long leisurely bubble bath with a fizzy bath bomb thrown in, one of the ones she saves for special occasions, turning her bath into an explosion of purple sparkles and cracking open a bottle of champagne to pour herself a drink. Cheers to her and her alone, Mina toasts with her solo champagne flute.</p><p>It isn’t until she’s dried off and lounging on her bed in her fluffy white bathrobe, three bowls of assorted junk food in front of her—chips, M&amp;Ms, and popcorn too—a sappy cheesy rom com running on her Netflix account, that she allows herself to even think of Chaeyoung. Confident, audacious, unrestrained. Everything Mina is not, and it had fascinated her to no end back then, trying to pick apart the other girl at the seams. Desperate to discover what it is that gave Chaeyoung such unbridled courage in the face of everything.</p><p>And Mina had spent so much time wanting to <em>be </em>her, that it took her entirely by surprise when she realized what she really wanted was to be <em>with</em> her.</p><p>But that’s neither here nor there, because what truly matters is that Jihyo is getting married, and Mina couldn’t be happier.</p><p>As expected, the news reaches Sana about the same time, and the next day, she has a message from the other girl, and Mina nearly drops her phone into the boiling pot of water as her fingers work to unlock her phone. It makes her laugh, the string of cute stickers lining up to greet her before any words whatsoever are said. Very Sana. And Mina finds that she misses the other girl. Mina and Sana had both returned to Japan after a while, choosing to settle down a bit closer to their families. But they had been the only ones, Momo happily choosing to stay in Korea to grow new roots.</p><p>Even so, Mina doesn’t get the chance to see Sana often, maybe once every few months, though they are a skip and a hop away from each other, almost embarrassingly close by subway. And besides Sana, the only other member she’s seen at all in recent memory is Tzuyu, the youngest taking a trip with her family to be tourists, sweetly asking to meet up and see her and Sana while there, the two of them taking her and her parents around for the day. Oh, and Dahyun who had somehow managed to get stuck in Tokyo on a layover and had crashed with Mina for a night, grateful for the bed over the hard airport seats.</p><p>The other girl is excited to see her, as always, a cheerful cloud, this time her hair a silvery ashen blue and in a flowing white sundress and yellow wedges, a simple belt looped loosely around her waist, buckled with a sunflower. They spend two hours having lunch with each other, more time than Mina had expected, and really, a lot of it is just Mina letting the sound of Sana’s chattering wash over her as she nods along. Turns out Sana is better than her at keeping in touch, having been on video calls with literally everyone else at least once in the past month.</p><p>“So, Jihyo’s wedding.” Sana stares at her with that knowing look, and Mina hates it, hates how Sana can read people so effortlessly, not as if Mina isn’t a open book anyways. The other girl takes another bite out of her slice of cake, chewing slowly, drawing out the anticipation of what Mina knows she’ll say anyways. “Chaeyoung will be there.”</p><p>Mina decides not to grace Sana with an immediate response, but Sana is patient, lives her life like she knows everyone will give into her in the end, and Mina is no different. The reply is accompanied by a heavy sigh, the only thing betraying her lack of indifference being the slight uptick in her voice, that little feeling of needing to be wanted, even if only a passing glance from Chaeyoung. “It’s <em>fine</em>.”</p><p>“It’s been a while, and it’ll be fine.”</p><p>Sana, to her credit, looks at her with a straight face, not even an ounce of judgment in her expression, for which Mina is thankful. “You say that, but you have a habit of holding on to things for too long.” A gentle reminder. “Sometimes it’s okay to do that with objects, but not people.”</p><p>Another sigh.</p><p>“It’s fine.”</p><p>Mina continues to tell herself that long after Sana leaves, the two of them meandering around and window shopping after lunch for a bit even though Mina has things to do, the nostalgic feeling of seeing Sana biting into her. It’s not really Sana’s fault that she’s the only one to know of Mina’s tragic unrequited love, even if Mina had carefully spent her time crafting a well-designed wall to keep her feelings at bay. Sana is just too perceptive, too tuned into people, and she hadn’t missed the way Mina stared.</p><p>Sana hadn’t figured it out though until The Kiss.</p><p>Mina can’t even remember what she had been doing when Chaeyoung had decided to bless Mina with her first real taste of love. The conversation had landed on first kisses, and Chaeyoung’s face had gone still with shock before breaking out into a mischievous grin when Mina confessed to not being privy to the first kiss experience. A mistake in hindsight. But Mina hadn’t been able to resist, hadn’t <em>wanted </em>to resist when Chaeyoung grins at her in response and asks outright</p><p>“Want me to teach you how to kiss?”</p><p>The lollipop had clicked around in Chaeyoung’s mouth against her teeth, bright red and shiny, making an impressively loud <em>pop!</em> as the other girl had taken it out. And it had stained Chaeyoung’s tongue a vibrant red, many shades darker than her pink, watermelon lip-gloss-kissed lips. Chaeyoung told her to close her eyes so that Mina could ‘have a good and proper kiss’. And Mina had, feeling Chaeyoung press her lips to hers, soft and gentle, hands cupping her cheeks, fingers stroking at the back of her neck, entangled slightly in her hair. It felt nice, Chaeyoung’s thumb stroking over her cheek, the other girl’s lips warm and not-too-dry. Mina had been slightly surprised, Chaeyoung gently nibbling at her lower lip, tongue flicking to swipe at the corner of her mouth.</p><p>Her first kiss had tasted of cherry-flavored candy.</p><p>And Sana had walked into their shared room at that very instant, unfortunate timing, Mina back peddling on the bed to put some space in between the two of them as soon as she had heard Sana’s small <em>oh! </em>of surprise. Sana’s gaze going back and forth as Chaeyoung laughed, and Mina had felt her face heat up with embarrassment. And Chaeyoung had shrugged it off as ‘no big deal’ as Mina sat there letting the weight of Chaeyoung’s nonchalant words crush her.</p><p>At least Mina has distractions.</p><p>The endless tasks from her online shop orders fill her time. It’s not much, not <em>big</em>, but it is hers. And Mina takes much pleasure in that fact, handling most of the shop promotion, communication with sellers, order completions by herself, about one or two employees to help her handle volume when needed. Not to mention, the accompanying blog that she also runs, writing posts about certain pieces sold on the site, providing commentary on other up-and-coming fashion trends. There’s a comfort, she thinks, in providing help to other people with their fashion choices rather than promoting her own.</p><p>The wedding sneaks up on her, and it’s a month or so away when Mina realizes that she hasn’t bought a wedding present as of yet. She spends an entire day wandering around trying to pick something out, but nothing screams out <em>Jihyo</em> to her, and in the end, she returns home empty-handed. Mina finally gives in after a week of finding nothing good enough and texts Nayeon instead. Nayeon always knew what to do in these situations. It turns out the other girls are planning a group gift, putting together the money to pay for Jihyo’s honeymoon—Mina being out of the loop due to a stray missed email.</p><p>Thankfully, it gives her a welcome out, and Mina happily adds her contribution.</p><p>Nayeon tells her there’s also a group card, one that Mina can sign when she arrives to Korea, something where she can write a personal message, and Mina spends an entire night writing out what she wants to say. A week out from the wedding and Mina is all packed and ready to go, to board a plane and fly back into her old life. Luckily there’s not much of a crowd at the airport, and Mina makes her way through security without the extra hassle of long lines. Nayeon is waiting to pick her up, a dutiful friend, and Mina falls asleep in the car even though she doesn’t mean to, the short flight from Japan to Korea always taking more out of her than she expects.</p><p>There’s a chorus of hellos, a round of drinks, and hours of catching up to do, everyone gathering in the executive suite of the hotel where the wedding is to take place. Both Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung aren’t present, Jeongyeon planning to arrive the day before the wedding after getting back from a backpacking trip through Europe and Chaeyoung’s flight coming in the next morning. But it’s as if nothing has changed, still a place with the girls she can call home. Mina falls asleep on the couch in the middle of their festivities, and it’s Dahyun who shakes her awake, leading her to a spot on the bed.</p><p>Mina wakes up to the sound of chatting voices, and she wanders into the next room without much thought, a decision that she soon regrets when she sees Chaeyoung, sitting on the couch next to Tzuyu, her suitcase and purse up by her side, cup of coffee in hand. “Mina.” Chaeyoung stretches out her name in delight, raising her cup, and Mina’s well aware that her hair is a mess, and all she’s wearing is an old oversized t-shirt that barely reaches mid-thigh, pulled over not exactly the cutest pair of panties she owns.</p><p>“Chaeyoung.” The other girl gets up quickly, holding her arms out for a hug, and Mina lets Chaeyoung engulf her, the scent of Chaeyoung’s perfume faint, and she nearly has a shock when the other girl kisses her, once on each cheek, a European greeting. “How have you been?”</p><p>“I’ve been good.” Mina smiles at Chaeyoung, the other girl looking at her critically from arm’s length, studying her face. Chaeyoung looks almost exactly as Mina remembers, the shimmering eyes and strawberry pink lips, pursed in a rosebud mouth. Tantalizingly kissable. “How have you been?”</p><p>“Oh, you know, here and there.” Chaeyoung waves her hand vaguely. “You know how it is.”</p><p>But before Mina can pry further, ask whether maybe Chaeyoung is <em>with</em> anyone, the rest of the girls wake up, all of them piling into the room to swarm Chaeyoung with hugs and other affections.</p><p>“So, like, how are you really doing?” Mina looks up, voice unmistakable, to see Chaeyoung staring back at her with a probing expression on her face, a frank inquisitiveness. “How’s the anxiety? Any more panic attacks?”</p><p>Mina had only been away for a moment, stepping on the balcony to get a few breaths of fresh air, the afternoon heat simmering down into a mere nothingness right before daybreak, but it isn’t surprising that Chaeyoung takes the chance to ask how she’s doing beyond the surface level ‘I’m fine’. Chaeyoung had always taken extra care to check on Mina, increasingly so after the panic attacks had started. It’s one of the things Mina had loved about her.</p><p>“I’m doing well, really.” Mina toys with the bracelet she has on, the charms jingling on her wrist. “I’m seeing someone regularly, and it’s been good enough lately that I only see her once every three weeks or so.” She pauses. “And it’s been at least six months since I’ve had a panic attack.”</p><p>“Good.” Chaeyoung whispers fiercely, gaze intent as if Mina is the only thing in the world that exists for her. “Fuck ‘em, right?”</p><p>And Mina feels her chest heave and seize up as Chaeyoung stares back at her. It brings her back. Chaeyoung had been the one to find her when she had her first panic attack, after one of their performances, her body rooted to the chair she had been sitting in, the sound of her heart roaring in her ears, her chest tightening up so that she couldn’t breathe, the panic of needing to gasp for air. It had come out of seemingly nowhere, and Chaeyoung had been the one with her arms around Mina, whispering a steady stream of words in her air, telling her to breathe.</p><p>They had talked about it afterwards, about the pressure Mina was starting to feeling caving in her world, the anxiety that was setting into her head every night before she could sleep, keeping the sleep from coming. It had been a long conversation, one that Mina didn’t even know she was ready for, but Chaeyoung had made it easy, listening to her without adding any unnecessary dialogue. And at the end, there had been just a short silence. “Fuck them all Mina. You’re amazing and deserve the best and fuck everyone and anyone who makes you think otherwise.”</p><p>“Repeat after me, Mina. Fuck ‘em.”</p><p>And Chaeyoung had made repeat it. Over and over until the two of them were screaming at the top of their lungs at each other, a crazy chant almost until Chaeyoung had collapsed against her a heap of giggles. It had been the singular thing to make her feel better, to help calm her when she could feel a panic attack coming on, the mantra Chaeyoung had given her.</p><p>Unapologetic, bold.</p><p>And so Chaeyoung.</p><p>“Yeah, fuck ‘em.” Mina whispers back.</p><p>Sana gives Mina a long knowing look when the two of them return from the balcony, which Mina does her best to ignore.</p><p>The wedding is a dazzling affair, and Mina cries when Jihyo says her vows until her eyes are puffy and swollen, Tzuyu on one side handing her tissues, and Chaeyoung on the other squeezing her hand comfortingly. Then there’s a reception afterwards, a flurry of pictures with the family before Mina and the other girls can finally push their way to the front of the crowd and give their congratulations. And more pictures, this time of the whole group, and Jihyo promises to send the photo to all of them.</p><p>It’s a fun time, one Mina hasn’t had in a long while, and great company with familiar faces, the food and drinks continuing to flow throughout the night.</p><p>“Can I have this dance?”</p><p>Mina half-turns to see Chaeyoung offering her hand, and Mina takes it, letting her head rest on Chaeyoung’s shoulder, the two of them swaying back and forth in a slow dance, not speaking for some time. And Mina lets herself relax into Chaeyoung’s embrace, hands around her waist, Mina’s arms looped over Chaeyoung’s shoulders. “Ooops, careful.” Chaeyoung steadies her as she slips, a bit tipsy and slightly unbalanced on her stiletto heels. For a while, they continue, not saying a word.</p><p>It’s serene.</p><p>“So how about you Chaeyoung?”</p><p>“How about me what?”</p><p>“What have you been up to?” A pause. “Since the last time we’ve seen each other?”</p><p>Mina laughs as Chaeyoung dips her quickly, her sight spinning somewhat as her head ducks down, down becoming up and up becoming down. “Hmm, nothing really. I invested my money well, and now I can afford to travel without any big concerns or anything. The last four months or so, I’ve been bouncing around between home, Europe, South America, Southeast Asia. It’s been fun.” The other girl lightly giggles. “My parents would like me around more often, but what else is new.” A pause. “You?”</p><p>“Just working on the shop.” Mina launches happily into making small talk, describing her day-to-day operations as Chaeyoung nods along.</p><p>“Oh wait, your clip is loose, Mina.”</p><p>“Hmm?” But before she can reach up to check her hair, the elaborately pinned hairstyle taking forever for the stylist to finish, Chaeyoung’s hand has already reached up, Mina feeling a small tug, her hair falling around her shoulders in waves.</p><p>“I’ve always liked your hair down.” It’s an offhand comment, Chaeyoung smiling at her endearingly just like the other girl always has, probably always will, Chaeyoung’s fingers running through her hair, knuckles grazing the back of her neck.</p><p>And Mina hesitates a bit before taking the plunge, taking a slow deep breath. “Anyone new in your life?”</p><p>Chaeyoung doesn’t respond immediately, the two of them turning in unhurried circles, enough rotations that Mina is afraid that Chaeyoung won’t say anything back to her at all.</p><p>“No, no one who’s stuck around long enough anyways.”</p><p>The words slip out before she can stop them, the alcohol making her tongue loose, her inhibitions shakier than usual. “I’m still here.”</p><p>And this time Mina thinks she may have really screwed things up when the silence stretches out, long and thin.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Mina.”</p><p>It’s suddenly all too much, seeing Chaeyoung again, dancing together, the wedding, and Mina pushes Chaeyoung away the palms of her hands against the other girl’s shoulders, the memory of another drunken night a long time ago threatening to drown her once again. It’s the same answer, the same words, the same Chaeyoung.</p><p>So utterly unapologetic, and Mina wonders if she’s foolish for expecting Chaeyoung to be anything less.</p><p>Chaeyoung lets her leave this time too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments, kudos, and feedback are always appreciated!</p><p>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/sidestickienote">@sidestickienote</a><br/>CuriousCat: <a href="https://curiouscat.qa/sidestickienote">@sidestickienote</a><br/></p></blockquote></div></div>
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